Mohave County miner., 1887-10-29
FRAUDS OS THE CONSUMER.
How Coffee. Tea and spices nrs
Adulterated for tlsc Market.

table beverages are debased or sophisti. |
Gated must he subject OF great import.
ance TO the majority OF the consumers.
To know whether they are drinking an
article liable to injnre their health or for
which they are paying more than q just
price Il a matter OF much interest to all
who prize the "cup that cheers"
Several well known experts on these
articles were consulted by Star reporter,
who learned from them that in most in.
stances the sin Of adnlteration Ia more
against the health than the pocket Of the
consumer. Hyg:enically most teas and
coffecs are all right, but commercially |
many Of them are all wrong.
The extent to which "n:xing' and
cheapening processes are carried depends
upon the relative prices Of the goods.
When the latter are low little adulteration
need be feared, as the object is then
wanting.
Tea at the present time being cheap, il
is safe to say that very little, il any,
adulteration is practiced upon il by deaf
ers. Out of 1000 samples Of suspected
teas examined by Professor Battshall,
only nine per cent. were found to be
grossly sophisticated. and official expert
ments recently made confirm his results.
The days when iron filings, willow
leaves and brickdust were combined with
the fragrant Bohea have paHsed away
with the coming OF cheaper tea.
There is one process, however, TO which
Japan" and other high-colored and fine
appearing teas are still subjected. This
is FACING an operation performed to
please the eye OF the consumer. 1t adds
nothing to the delectation of his palate.
and very little TO the weight OF the article.
II consists of coloring or coating the tea
with snch pigments as Prussian blue,
indigo, etc. mixed with gypsum or soap.
stone, and is decidedly injurious.
The best way to avoid teas so treated il
to adjnre those vividly co'ored.
The action OF the japanese Government
in 1884. when the adilteration OF teas
vas made a hig', criminal ofense. has
rendered teas coming from that country
> purer than they formerly were. hut "fac.
ing" has not hpen considered under their
Inv an adulteration, 30 that the act does
! nothing to correct that evil.
With r,,,, 81 70 ,oGp,n kbn at,ta ~ a..
iiestion Was found to he exactly reversed
:. Little or no necessity exists for coloring
: nut adulteration tof the ground bean) i,
: almost universal. The prices ruling al
the present time--higher than they hav.
been since lS76--hsve rendered such de
basement much more prevalent than i
was a short time since.
}. 1t scarcely ne th.i hi.h prices To act t''s
>; iealers to "mixing." That has a." )
0 been we'll recognized facto- ~ 80. ..ie
5 chickory and the various cereals bein,
. the principal agents used.
Very many French people, and th'
~ majority OF Germans, enjoy the taste O
chiccory, and the dealers urge this fac
in explanation OF the root being employed
in coffee.
This would be an excellent deiens
y were it not for the fact that chiccory i
} never worth more than eight or ten cent
q pound at retail. and coffee brings from
twenty-five 10 thirty. Besides. chiccor,
in by no means the only adulterant used
What il known as the rye mixture" is
iavorite blend. II is merely rye coarsel.
ground with butter and mixed with Can
ada peas, TO which chiccory Is added
sometimes as much as 40 per cent. OF tn
market preparation consists OF thi
mixture.
Roasted turnips, hominy, corn, brea'
q. raspings, beet root, mangle wurzel, cara
mel or burnt sugar. dandelion and bean
are among the ingredients used to Eophis
ticate the cheaper grades, where tn
coffee is served in ground condition.
"What recommend as protection
against adulteration," remarked Mr.. T
B. Thurber, "is that every family hav
its own mill and grind the beans, or els
see them ground at the store"
An ingenious Englishman some year
ago invented a machine for pressing OIL
! artificial beans. but the cost of producin
them was 30 much greater than the valu
of the genuine beans and the limitation
was so poor that this deception need no
now be feared.
II you find the trouble Of grinding the
u coffee at home too great, the next bes
u thing to do is to test the quality Of tn
ground preparation you are accustomed I
buy. To do this fill a vessel with wate
and drop gently upon it's surface o fe'
grains of the coffee. II genuine they wi
float readily and will not discolor th
water for fifteen or twenty minutes.
they include any Of the ordinary adul
Grants the water becomes rapidly darke
and the grains themselves sink. Anothe
test is that chiccory invariably "cakes
4 between the fingers and true coffee doe
not
Chocolate, now so popular as breal
fast beverage, is usually adnlterated, br
most OF the ingredients are harmless
-four and starch being chiefly used.
Il "a, ,ol;o.. IL, 10, tho tS,Js Ell.